12th Anniversary
Today is John and my dozenth anniversary. My mother knows us well because she wrote us an anniversary e-mail speculating that we were somewhere off in the wild today and, sure enough, that's where we were. There was one parallel between today and our wedding day twelve years ago, though- it rained.
After consulting one of our hiking books we decided to head north of Barrie to Springwater Provincial Park. The park was home to a wildlife reserve so we spent the first part of our visit going to see the animals. All the animals were being cared for either because they were injured or abandoned when too young to fend for themselves. There were foxes, raccoons (including an albino beige raccoon, which I'd never seen before), coyotes, wolves, deer, bears, assorted birds and a porcupine.
After communing with the critters we hit the longest of the park's five hiking trails, which looped from the parking lot where our van was, around the park and back again. The park trail was absolutely lovely and it never ceases to surprise me how many gorgeous parks there are in Ontario just an hour or three from where we live. We hit upon two snags, though. First, the bane of the northern woods, black flies. They swarmed pretty thick in some of the deeper parts of the woods and they especially plagued John. I suspect my longer hair protects me better. We have vowed to carry deep-woods Off and hiking hats with flaps or some kind of protection for any northern hikes we do from here on in.
Now, the day was damp and overcast when we left Richmond Hill and rain had been predicted for the weekend, but we had taken our chances on the trails, anyway. Sure enough, it began raining about a quarter through our walk so we were pretty drenched by the time we got back to the van. I didn't mind the rain too much, though I did mind the slippery log paths and the mud. John said if choosing between black flies and rain he'd gladly take the rain. Unfortunately, he had to deal with both. Still, we both agreed it was a lot more fun to get out and brave the elements than to be sitting at home anticipating rain and longing to be hiking. We warmed up on the way home with Tim Horton's coffee and declared the day an adventure.
We'll be cocooning in for the night. John is finishing up the final touches on the "Fiddler On The Roof" video he filmed of our school performance last June so I can start dubbing the videos we sold next week (we want to deliver them before school begins in September). Me, I might just snuggle in where it's warm and do some cross-stitch.
Tomorrow, on the holiday Monday, we may go hiking again. Though likely not if it rains.
Exercise log- Four miles of walking in the rain taking me to 308 miles on the road. Exactly 150 miles away from Rivendell.
After consulting one of our hiking books we decided to head north of Barrie to Springwater Provincial Park. The park was home to a wildlife reserve so we spent the first part of our visit going to see the animals. All the animals were being cared for either because they were injured or abandoned when too young to fend for themselves. There were foxes, raccoons (including an albino beige raccoon, which I'd never seen before), coyotes, wolves, deer, bears, assorted birds and a porcupine.
After communing with the critters we hit the longest of the park's five hiking trails, which looped from the parking lot where our van was, around the park and back again. The park trail was absolutely lovely and it never ceases to surprise me how many gorgeous parks there are in Ontario just an hour or three from where we live. We hit upon two snags, though. First, the bane of the northern woods, black flies. They swarmed pretty thick in some of the deeper parts of the woods and they especially plagued John. I suspect my longer hair protects me better. We have vowed to carry deep-woods Off and hiking hats with flaps or some kind of protection for any northern hikes we do from here on in.
Now, the day was damp and overcast when we left Richmond Hill and rain had been predicted for the weekend, but we had taken our chances on the trails, anyway. Sure enough, it began raining about a quarter through our walk so we were pretty drenched by the time we got back to the van. I didn't mind the rain too much, though I did mind the slippery log paths and the mud. John said if choosing between black flies and rain he'd gladly take the rain. Unfortunately, he had to deal with both. Still, we both agreed it was a lot more fun to get out and brave the elements than to be sitting at home anticipating rain and longing to be hiking. We warmed up on the way home with Tim Horton's coffee and declared the day an adventure.
We'll be cocooning in for the night. John is finishing up the final touches on the "Fiddler On The Roof" video he filmed of our school performance last June so I can start dubbing the videos we sold next week (we want to deliver them before school begins in September). Me, I might just snuggle in where it's warm and do some cross-stitch.
Tomorrow, on the holiday Monday, we may go hiking again. Though likely not if it rains.
Exercise log- Four miles of walking in the rain taking me to 308 miles on the road. Exactly 150 miles away from Rivendell.